I've received many e-mails and letters lately, asking for advice on the property market, also tenant queries, landlord queries etc.... I do my best to answer each one personally, however I have had quite a few of late and my typing is still quite slow since I broke my wrist.
Then it occurred to me, why not post my response on the blog ? That way if anyone else had the same question I could simply refer them to each article.
If you have a property query that you need help or advice with please drop me an e-mail at MRJACKSONS@LIVE.CO.UK
Here goes with an initial broad selection.
I live in a cottage flat and the flat above has been empty for almost five years after the owner died. I was told there is trouble dividing his estate but can't trace the executors. I have to maintain his side of the garden and pay for joint repairs.
Last year, I was unable to sell my property when people realised the flat above had been unoccupied for so long. I have been in touch with Registers of Scotland, The Law Society of Scotland, Environmental Health and the Council Tax Office but none can help.
This style of property is common in inter-war social housing in Scottish cities but is little-known in England. You effectively have a shared freehold with the upstairs property. In the absence of the owner, the law allows you to undertake vital maintenance, though not improvements, and reclaim half the cost. There are private companies that will trace executors, though I haven't tested their services. Make your claim for maintenance costs clear by posting a dated invoice through the letterbox.
I live in an apartment, one of a block of 12, and as a leaseholder I can't find anyone who will give me buildings insurance. Now, I have had a leak behind my shower and the freeholder won't claim on his insurance, saying it is my problem.
Leasehold law does have provisions for leaseholders to vary the terms of their leases, even against the will of the freeholder, in cases where the leases make inadequate arrangements for insuring the building. You will, however, have to pay your freeholder's reasonable costs.
When my husband died last year, my bank passed the deeds for my house to my solicitor. It turns out that the bank did not register the property with the Land Registry.
The bank says I have to fill in a DS1 form but my solicitor tells me it will cost £125 plus VAT and a fee of £30. This seems a bit of a rip-off. Can I do some of the paperwork myself?
The purpose of a DS1 is to cancel a 'registered charge' - ie a mortgage lender's interest - on a registered property. But you suggest the property is not, in fact, registered. If you bought it before 1975, there is no reason why the property should ever have been so. There is no compulsion on you to register your property - this will be necessary only when the property is next sold. Just make sure that the deeds are kept safe in your solicitor's strongroom.
I hope to be of assistance to more of you soon.
Until the next one.
Mr Jackson.
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